


Do I Know You?

by leorate



Category: Homestuck, davekat - Fandom
Genre: F/F, God tier shenanigans, Godstuck, M/M, Memory Loss, Mentions of temporary death, faux religious content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-02-24 09:09:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13210557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leorate/pseuds/leorate
Summary: For the past 9.69 sweeps (or 21 years) of his life, Karkat Vantas has lived an ordinary life. Very ordinary. Dreadfully ordinary. Until, he had a close encounter of the strange kind in a bookshop, and the world as he knew it was turned upside down.With the addition of an oddly familiar stranger who seems to know more about Karkat than he knows about himself, the arrival of old gods and even older magic, and the warring factions of the New Church raring at the heels of Karkat’s community, there is only one thing he knows for certain.His life is never going to be ordinary again.





	1. Volume I

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyy it’s ya girl! I shouldn’t be starting a new fic considering I haven’t finished my old one but will that stop me?? Nope. Hope y’all enjoy.

You were in the YA romance section. 

 

Well. 

 

Technically it said ‘teen romance’, but you, Karkat Vantas, nearly ten sweeps old (or approximately 21 human years) and verifiably a young adult preferred to address it as such, if only in your head. 

 

Besides, the only other person or troll in the bookshop that you could see was Kanaya, and she was sweating just as much as you looking for a trashy lesbian vampire novel. 

 

The bell above the door rang and another group of college-age kids walked in. You didn’t recognize them. You still didn’t want them seeing you perusing teen books with a laser focus, so you shifted behind the stacks just slightly and examined the group as they noisily entered. Laughing raucously. Fucking idiots. 

 

You came here to get away from all the noise, you couldn’t help feeling a little bitter that you and Kanaya weren’t the only ones who sought the fortitude of an old bookshop, the three humans who had walked in and now split their own ways didn’t even look like they belonged here. More like on the cover of some fashion magazine, Karkat couldn’t help but follow them with his eyes. Was it his imagination or were they…glowing?

 

He shook his head. Just another group of human jerks, probably. One of the girls, one with short black hair and cherry red glasses made a beeline to the recipe books, much to the apparent entertainment of the other two, as they shared a meaningful look. 

 

The other girl turned back cheerfully and spared her cooking companion a fond look before she ambled off through to look at old cassettes and records. Her very pink skirt matched the very pink clips scattered haphazardly through wild, blonde hair, and she danced through the aisles to music it seemed only she could hear. 

 

The remaining human was a guy about Karkat’s own age, messy blond hair that, unlike his companion, looked intentionally so, and darkly reflective shades perched on a strangely delicate nose, headed straight for him. 

 

What?

 

No. He was headed for the comics a few stacks short. Karkat let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He turned around to look at Kanaya, she had picked up some trashy vamp novella and was perched in an overstuffed armchair in the far corner of the shop. Definitely wouldn’t be moving for a while. Karkat absentmindedly selected a book without looking at it and pretended to skim the book sleeve as he peeked through the shelves to see what shades coolkid was looking at. 

 

Shades gingerly plucked an exceptionally old comic from the rack and something strange passed over his face. Nostalgia? Humor? Bitterness? Impossible to tell. The cover was tacky, some old, super famous comic Karkat had heard of but never bothered reading. The background was black, almost like space, but it was shattered like a prism, rainbow cracks in space and time. What was it called? Karkat wracked his brain. Homesafe? Homestruck? Homestuck. Based on mythology and the ways of the Old Church, it was supposedly a classic, although some particularly nasty New Church members had tried to get it banned in schools a few years back. They said it was nothing but, “lies and sacrilegious content, meant to rot kids’ brains out”. 

 

Religion had never been Karkat’s thing.

 

Shades held up the comic to show the girl in the music section. He waved it tauntingly and she rolled her eyes in return. He set it back down and continued to search through the old comic books aimlessly.

 

Was he being creepy? Karkat definitely felt like he was being creepy. It was something about the asshole, he was too well dressed, but still somehow managed to look sloppy. If Karkat looked sloppy it was because he couldn’t afford to look any better. This fuckface was in a long black coat, darkwash jeans, clean red converse, and a red sweater over an untucked black button-up. And he had a long red scarf. Stupid asshole. Stupidly tall.  
Stupidly attractive. Stupid-

 

“Karkat? Are you almost done?” Kanaya materialized behind him with a respectable stack of books in her arms. “Would you like me to wait for you before I check out?”

 

“Um,” Karkat recovered from having had to resist the urge to leap back fifty feet. “No, yes. No. Um. I haven’t…” 

 

He looked helplessly down at the meager pile of books he’d collected. He felt no particular attachment to any of them, or if he had when he’d pulled them he had forgotten his intrigue almost immediately. 

 

Kanaya smiled patiently. “I will see you tomorrow for coffee as planned, yes?”

 

“Yes,” Karkat nodded emphatically. “Absolutely. Fucking yes. That.”

 

Kanaya hid a smirk as he turned to walk away before pausing. “Oh, by the way,”

 

“Hm?” Karkat responded distractedly as he stole a glance back toward the comic section. Shades was gone. 

 

“Get his number, will you dear?” 

 

Kanaya laughed and winked as Karkat fought to avoid turning bright red. Fucking figures. 

 

Karkat sighed and looked at the pile of books at his feet. He slowly began to put them back, peering through the shelves as inconspicuous as he could. He couldn’t explain why he was so fascinated by this guy, this dumb human boy. It was more than that he seemed attractive, more than that he looked like the usual asshole Karkat liked to get his heart broken by, he seemed familiar. Like out of a dream, or a drawing. Like-  
Karkat really did leap back this time. He had peered through a crack in the books and a pair of darkly reflective glass frames met him eye for eye. Fuck.

 

There was a wild scrambling from the other side of the bookshelf, then the human appeared at the end of the aisle and stopped in his tracks. He was breathing heavily. Or he was holding his breath? Karkat couldn’t be sure, but his heart sped up of its own accord. 

 

Something about this human boy who stood there, stance wide, long legs planted apart, firmly. One arm reached toward the shelf as if he’d used the edge to spin around about-face, the other limp, distant, at his side. Face passive. 

 

“Did she. Um.” His voice was crackly, rough around the edges. As if he hadn’t used it in some time. Or as if he had been crying. “Did she call you Karkat?”

 

Karkat blinked. “Yeah? What the fuck is it to you?”

 

Shades exhaled in an almost-laugh, breathy and disbelieving. He half turned around as if to say something to someone at his side, but upon realizing no one was there, spoke to himself.

 

“After all these years,” he muttered. “Fucking millennia. Like a bad joke.”

 

“Can I fucking help you?” Karkat said. 

 

“Do you like comics?” Dave asked, taking a step closer. He pulled a shiny copy of a popular comic Karkat definitely recognized, Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. 

 

“Not that fucking bullshit,” Karkat made a face. “If you have anything that’s actually good, then maybe.”

 

Shades didn’t seem particularly offended by this scathing review. Just continued toward Karkat, a small smile gracing his face. He got the sense that this was a barely contained emotion. 

 

“You know, I really fuckin’ think I do,” Shades lifted his namesake off his nose and pushed it to the top of his head, scraping any pale hair up and out of the way. He fixed Karkat with a pair of bright red eyes. Karkat, who was no expert on humans, was fairly certain that eyes were not supposed to come in that particular shade. After all, even as a troll, his own weren’t. 

 

Shades looked off toward his friends and gave a nod in their direction. “I’ll be seeing you around, Karkat.” 

 

There was a sudden sound of ticking, gears turning, and then Karkat was alone in the shop. 

 

Shades was gone, and so were his female friends. It was almost as if Karkat’s brain had missed something, skipped a step. They were there, they were gone, and his brain had blinked in the middle during the process where point A bridged to point C. 

 

Karkat searched through every stack, as if maybe the three human strangers were all in on some elaborate prank and just really good at hiding, but it was useless. He ended up right back to where he started. 

 

Only now, there was something on the ground where Shades had been standing. The old comic he’d been looking at earlier. Homestuck, volume I. And a note.

“yo. its not perfect obviously because what really went down was a mad shitshow, and its missing some stuff. gotta simplify if you wanna spread the word i guess. anyways, this might fill in the spaces. or at least, i really, really fucking hope it does. 

 

\- d”

Karkat looked around the shop, as if he might catch whoever was responsible. No such luck. 

 

“What the fuck?” He whispered. He had a feeling it was going to be a very long day


	2. The Seer's Shrine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Karkat sighed with an air of melodrama so dense it was a wonder he had any breath left in his body. Perhaps the gods truly were looking out for him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably settle into a more regular update schedule after this, but the first chapter was so short bc it was originally just a one-off that I figured I'd throw in some extra exposition. Any and all feedback is, as always, much appreciated in the comments below.

“I mean he was an absolute fucking asshole, Kanaya, I mean it.”

“I’m sure.”

“You should have seen the scarf he was wearing.”

“Mmhm.”

“And then he just vanished!”

“Quite.”

“Like an asshole.”

“I’m sure.”

Karkat scowled. “And then it started raining meowbeasts and barkbeasts.”

“Mmhm.”

“And then the bookshop exploded.”

“Quite.”

“Kanaya you’re not even listening,” Karkat whined and pushed his coffee (barely touched and quite cold by this point) away as he crossed his arms petulantly and leaned back in his seat.

Kanaya blinked suddenly, then tilted her head and let out a sympathetic tsk. “I am terribly sorry Karkat, it’s just that you’ve relayed this mysterious happenstance to me five times now. Once yesterday, frantically over text. Again yesterday, when you called me because I did not respond to your texts quickly enough. Another text and call yet again today, and now it’s all you’ve talked about in person the entire hour we’ve been here.”

Karkat swallowed guiltily and shifted forward to rest his arms on the table. “Fuck. Sorry, I didn’t mean to get carried away.”

Kanaya rested a delicate hand on top of his, but turned to look absentmindedly outside the window. “No, it is perfectly fine. I’m sure I would be just as vexed as you, were I in a similar situation.”

“I just,” Karkat shook his head. “I want to understand.”

The two were quiet for a moment. In the corner of the coffee shop, the small television resting on the counter began to static, and the barista gave it a hardy smack before it resumed the news story being reported by a blonde female and a troll lowblood. 

_“In other news, we have reports of escalated violence occurring across the city at Old Temple sites. Shrines and altars across the country have been vandalised at the hands of what can only be New Church protestors, although the church denies any knowledge of such crimes._

_“That’s right, Zewak, just this morning the Seer’s disciples were shocked and horrified when they arrived with their morning offerings to see graffiti covering the walls and valuables missing from the altar itself. Antique candlesticks and other holy symbols of Light were reported stolen, and this isn’t the first example of such a thing happening in our little corner of the world._

_“No, Gail, unfortunately not. The East Coast has been plagued with violence at Old Temple sightings. These New Church folk have been gathering up a very passionate following in the past couple years but we’ve never seen anything like this before. They claim that the Old ways are just that - old, and with the Spring Equinox coming up in a few weeks, tensions have never been higher. But let’s roll that clip from last week’s protest and let a New Churcher explain things for themselves.”_

“By the gods,” Kanaya murmured, quietly engrossed in the unfolding news clip. Karkat could merely nod as he swallowed uncomfortably. He hadn’t realized things had gotten this bad. On the fuzzy screen, an old, white human man stood side-by-side with a cruel looking violet-blood female. The human did all the talking, the troll stood silently, sentinel like. She seemed almost bored by the proceedings.

_“It’s absolutely disgusting, I mean, multiple gods?_ The man scoffed. _“True followers of the texts know that there is only one true Lord, he who defeated his wicked adversaries and dominates through Time. He who conquered Space and took it for his own. He who -”._

“Can you turn that shit off, please?” Karkat snapped at the barista. A petite rust-blood, she flipped him off before changing the channel and resuming her work. 

Kanaya raised a perfectly groomed brow. “I did not realize you were so much a defender of the Old Gods? You never struck me as religious. Is it about that comic?

Karkat prickled from where he was sitting at the mention of it. “No,” He argued petulantly. “I didn’t even look through it yet.”

“You’re not a good liar, Karkat.” Kanaya hummed delicately. “Show it to me.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Show me.”

“You won’t believe me.”

“Karkat.” 

“Fuck. Even I don’t believe me.”

“Karkat Vantas!” Kanaya slapped the table, causing a bit of the now well-below room temperature coffee from Karkat’s untouched cup, and earning a stern look from the barista. “Show me the gods forsaken comic, or so help me.”

Karkat sighed with an air of melodrama so dense it was a wonder he had any breath left in his body. Perhaps the gods truly were looking out for him. He produced the ratty comic from his bag, no bonus points for quality control he supposed. He flipped to the first page, and Kanaya began to read softly aloud.

“A young man stands in his bedroom. It just so happens that today, the 13th of April, 2009, is this young man's birthday. Though it was thirteen years ago he was given life, it is only today he will be given a name! What will the name of this young man be?”

Kanaya looked up at Karkat. “I don’t understand.”

“The first few pages aren’t important, we meet the first few kids, it’s set in BS years not AS like we are, yada yada yada,” Karkat flipped a few pages ahead. “Here, maybe?”

Kanaya began to read again.

“Your name is ____. As was previously mentioned you are without ELECTRICITY, although your LAPTOP COMPUTER still functions on BATTERY POWER. You have a variety of INTERESTS. You have a passion for RATHER OBSCURE LITERATURE. You-” Kanaya cut off suddenly, looking a shade paler and a bit green, though not in the healthy, blood color sense. More like she was going to be ill.

“Are you okay?” Karkat asked, leaning forward to peer into her face.

“Um. Rather,” Kanaya gave a shake of her head and fixed a smile to her face as best she could manage. “Just a moment of vertigo, it seems to be passing. Why doesn’t it have their names?”

Karkat shrugged. “I don’t know. None of the old texts have their names in them, so the comic writers had nothing to base it off of?

“I suppose,” Kanaya frowned. “Still, they could have made something up.”

“Oh yeah sure,” Karkat scoffed. “Let’s take this already highly controversial comic of the oldest religion in history, mass produced for wigglers and toddlers alike, and throw in fake names for the supreme powers that be. Sounds fucking flawless.”

“Oh hush,” Kanaya slapped his arm lightly. “Now, was this the section you wanted me to see?”

“No, actually,” Karkat frowned and flipped forward a few more pages. “There! Now, what do you think about this fuckery?”

“There's this really cool dude, ok? He's standing around being all chill, like cool dudes are known to do sometimes. A cool dude like this probably has a real cool name. But he probably wouldn't just tell you what it was if you asked. He'd be way too busy for that. Busy being totally sweet,” Kanaya read, then looked up at Karkat expectantly.

“Well?” He asked excitedly. “Bullshit, right?”

Kanaya wet her lips, and folded her hands in front of her patiently. “Karkat.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not sure what exactly it is that you want me to say? This appears to be another introduction, and as such I am unsure if I’m missing something rather important to the particular narrative you wish for me to see or interpret or-”

“The stupid fucking shades!” Karkat pointed frantically at the picture in the comic. “That asshole was wearing these exact fucking shades in the bookstore yesterday.”

“You expect me to believe you encountered a character from this comic, one of the old gods, in a bookstore yesterday?” Kanaya questioned skeptically. “I disagree.”

“No no no no,” Karkat waved his finger, a smug grin settling onto his features. “He wants me to think that.”

“Who?” 

“Shades McFuckface!” Karkat shouted, earning an ornery glare from the barista. He quieted appropriately, attempting to speak quietly. “That asshole pulled some trick with, I don’t know, mirrors or some shit, because he wants me to think he’s this asshole from the text or whatever. It’s an elaborate fucking stunt, I wonder if John put him up to it,” Karkat shook his head.

“Who?”

Karkat blinked. “The guy from yesterday? Did you already forget who I was talking about?”

“No,” Kanaya narrowed her eyes in confusion. “Who is John, and why would he go to such lengths to prank you?”

“Who’s John?” Karkat asked, tilting his head.

“Well I’m sure I don’t know,” Kanaya exclaimed in exasperation. “You said you thought John put him up to it, but I am unaware of anyone in either of our friend groups named ‘John’.”

“Did I?” Karkat sipped his coffee absentmindedly, then immediately spit out the freezing drink in disgust. “I don’t remember.”

“Well,” Kanaya stood and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair. “We stayed considerably longer than we meant to, and you know Eridan likes to frequent this particular shop around six, so I suggest we gracefully depart.”

Karkat shuddered and shoved his arms into the sleeves of his jacket. “You’re right. I am not in the fucking mood to deal with that particular ex today.”

Kanaya resisted the urge to bare her fangs in a smirk. “Well you dated him for over a year, obviously he wasn’t all that bad.”

“Oh, no. He was,” Karkat rolled his eyes and tossed his cup in the trash with a splash. He flipped off the barista without turning around and continued out the door with Kanaya close behind. “But my self-e-fucking-steem was worse. So.”

“Are you heading back to your apartment?” Kanaya asked as they fell in step on the sidewalk. “I’ll walk with you.” 

The two both lived in separate blocks of the same apartment building, not a five-minute walk from the coffee-shop. 

Karkat bit his lip and glanced at his watch. “Uhhmmm, ugh. Would you mind actually walking with me to, um. That shrine. The one they were talking about on the news? I think it’s only a few minutes out of our way.”

Kanaya’s face softened. “Of course.”

They were silent on the walk there. 

Karkat really didn’t know why he wanted to go see the vandalised shrine, he’d rarely ever gone before it had been tagged and broken into, but he felt as though he owed it to whatever cosmic entity to witness the destruction of her holy place. If she existed. If none of this was some big, cosmic joke or that he wasn’t going crazy or-

“We’re here,” Kanaya whispered. They stopped a few feet short of the shrine, and Karkat’s heart fell when he saw the condition it was in. 

The outside was covered in spatters of sickeningly bright green, the holy color of the New Church. It looked radioactive, distorted. Legend said that the god of the New Church had been born with a twin, together they encompassed the entire universe. Until he killed her to rule for himself. The Church justified it, saying that their Lord had killed the Muse and used her blood to bring life to the new world or some bullshit that didn’t make any sense. Whoever the Muse was, Karkat was sure that she didn’t deserve to have her fake blood spelling out slurs on temple walls. 

Pagan. Heretic. Idolator.

The words had never sounded so crass, so...dirty. The shrine had never looked so empty. 

The Seer’s shrine was one of the more popular ones, the largest in the area, many who were not close enough to the altars of the gods of their choice would leave offerings here in their name, trusting that their devotion would make it through. In cold weather, there was always a fire roaring at the hearth and candles flickering in the windowsills. Now though, the altar was bare and the candles were gone, the hearth only barely glowing in the fading light as a few embers sparked weakly. The silence was deafening.

“Goodness,” Kanaya murmured. “I’ve never seen it so…”

“Quiet?” A voice spoke up from behind the pair, and Karkat and Kanaya whipped around to face it. 

It was the same guy from the bookshop, ridiculous shades and all, though today the look was complete with a bright red suit. He walked slowly up beside the pair, staring straight ahead at the shrine, his face unreadable. “Feels wrong, doesn’t it?”

Neither troll spoke.

“Doesn’t feel like it’s her place anymore, being fuckin’ quiet like this,” He spoke. “She’s never quiet, so.”

“I’m sorry, but just who the fuck are you?” Karkat demanded. “You’re wearing a red fucking suit and I’m no fashion expert like my friend here but I know that’s a mistake. So, kringlefucker, are you santa or just some dickwad who thinks it’s okay to wear a three-piece tux in a goddamn statement color?”

A wall of silence rose up to meet Karkat’s outburst.

Shades started laughing.

And kept laughing.

He clutched at his sides and folded in on himself, a feat, considering his lanky form was all limbs and length. He sighed. 

“I missed that. Fuck,” he said quietly. “You can uh, call me TG, I guess.”

“What the fuck kind of name is that?” Karkat demanded.

TG smiled absently. “It’s not. But you’re going to have to earn that much, very few people know my name now.”

“Earn it?” Karkat shared a look with Kanaya, who seemed just as lost as he did. “How the fuck am I supposed to do that?”

TG hummed and strolled lazily around the shrine, inspecting the damage. “You’ll figure it out. Is this…?” He vaguely gestured toward Kanaya. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be wrong. For her sake.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the Light symbol above the entrance. 

“Kanaya,” she introduced herself, sticking out a hand to shake.

TG paused, then met her hand with his own in a firm grasp. She jerked his hand so that his palm was face-up. She kept her hand on his for a moment, staring him down as best she could behind his shades. Finally, Kanaya gave a non-committal noise and nodded, releasing. 

“Well?” TG asked, seeming to know what she was going to say.

“Interesting,” she narrowed her eyes. “I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.”

TG laughed without humor. “I think that you do.”

“Then I don’t want to.”

“Too late.”

“Am I fucking missing something here?” Karkat demanded. “Oh? Sorry? Did you forget I was here? Are mommy lusus and daddy lusus fighting and the little baby wriggler needs to stay out of the room? Fuck you.” 

TG allowed some real emotion to seep into an amused grin. “I didn’t forget about you. It’s a funny accusation, if you really think about it.”

“Yeah I’m fucking thinking about it, and the stunning conclusion I’ve come to is no it fucking isn’t because apparently I don’t get the goddamn joke, fuckass.” 

TG smiled a real, honest to the gods smile. Karkat was afraid his face would crack open he looked so out of practice with any form of genuine emotion. 

“Damn,” he chuckled. Like an asshole. Only assholes chuckle. “Can’t fuckin’ wait to tell the others.”  
The sound of ticking, and once again, he was gone.

Only this time, Karkat had a witness.

“See?” he crowed, pointing to wear TG had stood only seconds ago. “What did I tell you? Just vanished! Fucking gone!”

Kanaya stared at the now empty space wordlessly. She seemed neither shocked nor surprised, simply resigned. “I think you’re going to want that.”

Karkat spun around, already half-knowing what he was going to find. There, on the ground. Homestuck, vol. II. Go figure.

“Fuck me.”

\--------------------

“Rose. Rose. Rose.”

“Can I help you, David?”

Dave scowled as he stepped into Rose’s entryway before she held out a hand to stop him.

“Shoes, please,” she smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. It hadn’t, as far as Dave knew, for over two thousand years. 

Dave sighed, but obliged, too excited not to get to the point of telling her to put up too much resistance at her inane bullshit like he usually did just to be difficult. “You’ll never guess who I saw today.” 

“Oh?” Rose walked soundlessly to her little apartment’s windowsill where she filled a class to water her plants. “Do tell.”

“Well,” Dave threw himself onto Rose’s couch, enjoying watching her cringe delicately as he collapsed over the armrest, disturbing her decorative pillows. “You already know I went to that weird little bookshop with Rox and Jane yesterday.”

“Yes, I do recall Roxy mentioning that the three of you would be exploring the new neighborhood. I approved, it’s best to get to know the area we’ll be staying in for the next few months.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Dave said. “I know who I’m excited about seeing, but I didn’t see who he was with until today.”

“Mmhm,” Rose finished watering her plants and took a slow sip of water.

“Pretty dumb of me, actually,” Dave was clearly enjoying stretching out the moment as long as possible. “Especially considering what section of the bookstore she was in.”

“Oh?” Rose said absentmindedly.

“Yep. Trashy lesbian vampire novels.”

“Mm,” Rose gave a tight lipped smile. “Sounds like my type of girl.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

“Dave,” Rose squeezed her eyes shut and set her glass on the counter as she pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. “I don’t know how it was for you. I don’t ask, partially out of respect, but mostly because I know that would entitle you to ask about me, and if we have nothing else in common, we neither of us much care to discuss our feelings. However, even I would not be so foolish as to try and set you up with someone, even after all these years, so I can’t imagine how you could possibly think that-”

“Rose-”

“I mean really, I know that we were young-”

“Rose-”

“But I thought that you of all people would-”

“Holy shit, Rose if you don’t shut up I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to tell you that when I say she’s your type of girl I mean it so fucking literally I don’t think there’s a way to be more literal.” Dave could barely contain his grin, even pushing up his shades to show that the excitement reached his eyes.

Rose was silent as she absorbed the information. “Dave.”

“Yes, sister dear?”

“If you,” She swallowed, then carefully exhaled. “Are fucking with me. In any way. I will end you. I will take that horrible, horrible fucking game’s excuse for immortality and I will turn it inside out until you die, and then I will bring you back and kill you again, and then bring you back because I would miss you as much as I am loathe to admit it, but I would still be very angry with you for another thousand years. So, you had better be telling me the absolute and entire truth or else-”

“Rose,” Dave stepped over and pulled her into a hug. She stiffened at the physical contact, but relaxed into his grip. Then started shaking. Good. Dave hadn’t wanted to be the only one crying. “I found them. I promise you I found them.”

He didn’t say their names, that would have been too much. The moment was fragile as it was, delicate in ways that only those who have lost so, so very much, and have been shown the barest glimmer of hope can feel. But he didn’t have to say it. 

If they were twins in anything, they were twins in pain. Now, perhaps, they could be twins in relief. Recovery.

Happiness.

“We’ll have to tell the others,” Rose pulled away to wipe her tears as she went into manic, planning mode. “If there’s even the slightest chance the others are alive, Terezi, Sollux, even-”

“Hey, hey, hey, shh,” Dave rested his hands on his sister’s shoulders, he wasn’t sure how to calm people, and Rose sure as hell didn’t qualify as people so he was fucked in that regard, but gentle pressure usually seemed to do the trick. “Yeah, I get it, we have to tell the others.”

Rose nodded tearfully as she attempted to compose herself.

“But, not tonight, okay?”

She let out a shaky breath. “Of course. Not tonight.”

“Nope.”

“Dave?”

He had never heard his sister sound so...small. “Yeah?”

She looked out the window, anything to avoid eye contact, to avoid genuine emotion. “I really, really missed her.”

Dave nodded solemnly. “I know.”


	3. Breakfast of the Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wait, wait, uh, I brought scones? And coffee?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof sorry its been a hot second? this semester is kicking my ass and so is my depression but I rlly love this concept so i'll probably sporadically update, and then start writing more when summer break happens. so, I will update and I do plan on finishing? just going to be a wonky schedule. love y'all for staying patient!

_As ____ frustratedly attempted to craft an ELECTRIC BASS via a Dutton ghost image captchalogue card, She was dismayed in Her efforts as they were interrupted by a great, godlike beast. Her dog and forever companion, Becquerel.  
_

_Busted; alas, the jig was up.  
_

_Ah, well. ____ supposed that She had inadvertently left Her own time capsule there for whatever party may find it in the future. Lucky bastards!”_  


Karkat glanced at the clock. It was four in the morning. At least he didn’t have his first exam of the semester tomorrow morning, making this a perfect time for him to be reading a fucking wriggler’s comic that may or may not have been left to him in the dirt by a literal psychopath. Oh fucking wait.  


Karkat groaned and buried his face in his pillow. He needed to calm the hell down. And maybe read just a few more pages.  


_____ got started installing both discs. She figured She might as well get a jump on it to avoid the sort of future drama that results from poor time management decisions. In the meantime, as The Game loaded, she decided to touch base with her pals, and scrolled over to her CHUMROLL. Viewing briefly the TROLLSLUM, ____ shuddered. She would not message those pals, they could just sit tight for a minute!_  


Karkat skimmed the conversations whoever the fuck had with dorky glasses boy until something caught his attention.  


_____: Answer troll_  


Finally. Karkat had had enough of this human nonsense, he wanted to hear about some troll nonsense. That, at least, should make more sense. Or so he hoped.

CG: HEY ____. 

CG: CALM THE HELL DOWN. Karkat felt a chill go down his spine. He kept reading. 

EB: aaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!! 

EB: how did you find me????? 

CG: FIND YOU? 

CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN. 

EB: i changed my chumhandle to ditch you guys. 

EB: how did you find me? 

CG: OH. 

CG: HA HA! 

CG: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! 

CG: THIS IS THE LITTLE WORD HUMANS SAY REPEATEDLY WHEN SOMETHING TICKLES THEIR ABSURDITY PALATE, RIGHT? 

That was entirely too much. Karkat was done reading for the night.  
He set the comic down on his bedside table and opened his laptop. Karkat logged onto his pesterchum. His chumhandle blinked back up at him.

carcinoGeneticist [GC] 

Hands shaking, he reached for the comic yet again.

[GC] 

He slammed his laptop shut. What-fucking-ever. There were only 26 fucking letters in the shitty human alphabet, loads of poor shitheads were bound to have a chumhandle with the same abbreviation as him and as this stupid comic. He was overthinking it. Karkat sighed as he tossed and turned in bed. It could stand for crankyGinger, or cockyGator, or countlessGyro or a million other things. Just because the comic didn’t specifically list what each chumhandle stood for didn’t mean they were the same.  
Karkat’s fingers twitched. He opened the comic again and scoured it for telltale walls of text till he found the character he was looking for.

[TG] 

There. Shades douche. TG. This had to be a joke. The idiot was so obviously hinting that he wanted Karkat to think he was this kid from the comic, a god or something. No all-powerful being would look that stupid all the time, or read Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff for that matter. Or want to talk to someone as insignificant as him. Karkat didn’t place his faith in very many things, but he hoped that if there were truly gods out there, at the very least they didn’t have shitty taste.  


The clock read 4:13 am.  


Karkat resigned himself to getting no sleep tonight.  


He went and made hot chocolate in the kitchen.  


Karkat filled the kettle with water and set the stove on high. He pulled a mug down from the cabinet. He filled it with hot cocoa powder. He waited. He checked the clock. 4:17. He sighed.  
This had been a very long day.  


The syllabus said that the exam would be over the first three chapters, it was just a stupid gen ed astronomy class he should have taken freshman year, but shoved aside in favor of creative writing and theater courses. Stupid. If he had to read the phrase “globular cluster” one more fucking time he was going to rip his horns from his head and shove them up someone’s ass.  


The kettle whistled. Karkat stirred his cocoa as he read about dark matter.  


When his alarm went off at the usual time, 7:30, Karkat had to physically pry his eyes open from where he’d haphazardly fallen asleep on the couch with his astronomy book on his lap.  


“Fuck,” he groaned.  


As if his sleep schedule wasn’t fucked before when the biggest thing he had to worry about was graduating in the spring and finding a job for someone with a stupid fucking creative writing major.  


Karkat showered until he ran out of hot water and when he was in the middle of brushing his teeth, his door buzzed.  


He blinked.  


It was too early for Kanaya, she didn’t have Monday classes until later in the afternoon.  


“Coming!” Karkat yelled as he scrambled to shove his legs through his pants and force a shirt on that preferably didn’t have any holes in it.  


“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered as the shirt caught on his left horn. “Stupid fucking shirt fucking horn fuck!”  


He popped his head through the collar just in time to swing the door open to find-  


Him.  


“Your shirt’s on backwards,” TG stated with no small amount of satisfaction.  


“Eat shit and die,” Karkat slammed the door in his face.  


Almost. The asshole stuck his foot in.  


“Wait, wait, uh, I brought scones? And coffee?” TG said quickly. “I just thought, um. I could walk with you to your class or something?”  


Karkat scowled. “How did you know where I lived? How do you know when I have classes? Are you fucking stalking me, shitstain?”  


“I have a… sister, who is very good at hacking, and the school has all your info listed. Address included. Sorry man.”  


“That’s fucking creepy.”  


“Sorry,” TG did not sound sorry.  


Karkat tried closing the door again, but the asshole’s foot wouldn’t budge. “What the fuck do you want from me?”  


TG ran his free hand, the one that was not holding the bag of scones and coffee, through his hair in a nervous tic. “Um. To talk?”  


"Yeah I got that,” Karkat rolled his eyes. “Why?”  


TG swallowed uncomfortably. “Can I come in?”  


“No.”  


“Right. Okay. Um. You...remind me of someone I used to know.” TG said carefully.  


Karkat narrowed his eyes. “I’m not him.”  


“Sorry?”  


“Whoever the fuck I remind you of, I’m not him.”  


The ghost of a smile traced TG’s lips. “Of course not.”  


“Is he dead?” Karkat asked.  


The ghost of a smile faltered. “I’m sorry?”  


“Your friend, the one I remind you of. Is he dead?”  


“I never said he was my friend.”  


Karkat bared his teeth. “My fucking bad, are you stalking me because I remind you of the nerd you gave a swirly to in tenth grade, then? Here to assuage your guilty conscience and make amends?”  


TG’s shoulders slumped, nearly imperceptibly. Karkat felt a pang of remorse, maybe he’d been a little too harsh. It felt like he’d kicked a puppy. A puppy that had torn up his homework, perhaps, and yet…  


Karkat sighed. He opened the door and stared directly, stubbornly, at the ground. “Would you like to come in?” He asked through gritted teeth.  
TG brightened immediately, perking up like a plant set in the sun.  


“Don’t mind if I do,” he raised his shades briefly to wink. Karkat already regretted letting him into his home.  


But. Now that he was here, Karkat could finally get a decent look at the legendary piece of shit that had strolled rather unceremoniously into his life and done nothing but cause problems.  


As TG set the bag of scones and tray of coffee onto the counter, Karkat inspected him. Nearly a head taller than himself, TG was built wiry but firm. A waif and a wall all in one. Messy hair, kinky and curly and so pale Karkat could have sworn it glowed in the morning light, and from this distance, the barest trace of freckles sprinkled the bridge of his nose. Karkat was loathe to admit that he was… objectively attractive.  


“What are you doing here?” Karkat asked tiredly as he moved across the room to make sure his bag was in order.  
“Already told you, bro.”  


“I don’t accept your answer, then,” Karkat shot back. “I remind you of someone you used to know? How egg-shittingly vague.”  


TG silently mouthed ’egg-shittingly’ before responding. “Alright then. I want to get to know you.”  


“Why the fuck would you want to do that?”  


“Do you really think so little of yourself?”  


“I don’t even know you!” Karkat huffed. “We barely met in the bookshop, hell, I’m not even really meeting you now. You’ve been waving tiny morsels of knowledge in front of my face, tauntingly, like yarn in front of a meowbeast. I don’t know what it means, I don’t know why you want me to believe whatever it is you’re trying to get me to believe, and I don’t know you.”  


TG wet his lips. Another nervous tic. “I know, okay? Look, I- I get it. That’s kinda why I’m here.”  


“Oh?”  


“Pinky promise. I don’t,” he paused. “I don’t want us knowing each other to be some weird, fucked up thing. I don’t want to be some mysterious fucking asshole who shows up for a couple seconds at a time to drop some nasty truth bomb when I don’t even know if you’ll-”  


TG froze, as if he’d almost said too much. He backtracked.  


“Okay, so, have you ever thought about what makes us, us?” He asked Karkat almost pleadingly.  


“I don’t know what you mean.”  


“Like,” TG ran a hand through his hair again. “Nature versus nurture and all that shit. Gods know I’ve had to listen to my sister talk my ass off about her stupid psychological theories for the past thousand years,” he muttered. “But more to the point, it’s like, are we born as we are? Or are we shaped entirely by our experiences? How much of each plays a factor in who we become?”  


Karkat shook his head. “That’s super fucking fascinating, but I still don’t hear an answer to my question.”  


TG sighed. He turned toward the window and was silent a moment before turning back to face Karkat.  


“I’m here because I want to walk with you to your class,” he finally stated. “I want to eat scones with you, and drink bad coffee, and listen to you talk about your life.”  


Karkat was suddenly reminded of Eridan. That was a mental image he did not want.  


TG must have sensed whatever hesitation was flitting through Karkat’s mind. He stepped forward and stuck his hand out in front of him.  


“Hey there,” he greeted, a grin playing at his lips. “Name’s Dave. And you are?”  


“Dave,” Karkat repeated. The name rolled off his tongue like it belonged there. Looking back at TG, at Dave, it seemed impossible he would have any other name. Karkat stared at the outstretched hand for a moment.  


“C’mon,” Dave urged softly. Don’t leave a bro hangin’.”  


Karkat nodded slowly and bit back a rueful smile. “Fucking whatever. I’m Karkat, but you already goddamn knew that. Nice to meet you...Dave.”  


\--------------------  


“Don’t fuck with me, Lalonde.”  


Rose sighed and shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat. Passingly, she wished she had Dave’s ability to always know exactly what time it was. Then, perhaps, she would know how much time she had wasted trying to track down her fellow goddess of Light until she had finally located her, here, in front of a food truck, in the parking lot of an abandoned Denny’s.  


“Vriska,” Rose very nearly purred. “Darling. When have I ever led you astray?”  


Vriska Serket, Thief of Light, scowled. “Oh! I didn’t realize we were playing that game! Would you like a fucking list? I have over two millennia to choose from.”  


Rose quirked a brow. “You know, I’ve rather missed Terezi’s company as well. We had some very near similarities in our time on the meteor.”  


Vriska rose from where she was sitting, rising to a full head above Rose’s frame. “What, nearly succumbing to your pathetic human soporifics at the same time Gamzee bulgewad Makara tried to slip her some of his miracle juice?”  


Rose was silent.  


“I’m not an idiot, Lalonde,” Vriska turned away. “I know what it means.”  


“That she could be out there?”  


“That she is out there,” Vriska clenched her fists at her side.  


“Then I’m afraid I don’t see the problem.”  


Vriska laughed without humor. “Funny, isn’t it? The Seer doesn’t See.”  


Rose frowned. “I know we didn’t meet on the greatest of terms-”  


Vriska snorted.  


“But I thought that, over the years we had forged at least the semblance of a friendship.”  


Vriska’s shoulders slumped in defeat.  


“Vriska,” Rose reached out, hesitated, the set her hand on the troll’s shoulder as she gently moved to stand beside her. “Why are you afraid?”  


“Afraid,” she repeated hollowly. “What happens, Rose, what happens if I find her?”  


“I don’t understand.”  


“No, it seems you don’t.  


“Then please just explain,” Rose spun around to look Vriska face-to-face. “Help me to understand.”  


Vriska shook her head and raked her hands through her hair. “Okay, so, I find her. I find Terezi,” her voice cracked on the name. “Then what? She doesn’t remember me, she doesn’t remember-” the sentence choked off.  


Rose let Vriska take a deep breath.  


“I’m not stupid, okay? I’m a massive bitch, etc, etc,. Terezi…” she trailed off, smiling faintly at something in a distant memory. “She always forgave me. Or maybe it was some weird justice thing, or a guilt thing, or I don't know. We grew up together. I don’t know if I can explain how weird that is for trolls back on Alternia. Back then we weren’t matesprits or moirails, we were just… friends. We were part of each other’s lives for so long, it helped her see past everything else.”  


“She saw the best in you,” Rose said quietly.  


Vriska gave a breathy laugh. “Without that… who am I to her?”  


Rose was silent a moment before she spoke.  


“I suppose…” she trailed off and looked up at the sky. “I suppose we have to find out.”  


\------------------

TG: so 

TG: howd your exam go 

CG: YEAH I’M NOT EVEN GONNA FUCKING ASK HOW YOU GOT THIS CHUMHANDLE. 

TG: yeah my hacker sister says hi, by the way 

CG: IT WENT 

CG: WELL, I THINK. 

TG: mm well arent you a little ray of sunshine and optimism 

CG: WAS THERE SOMETHING SPECIFIC YOU WANTED???? 

TG: you wound me 

TG: cant a bro check up on a bro every now and then without getting the third degree 

TG: karkles 

TG: kitkat 

CG: YEAH, WE’RE NOT FUCKING DOING THAT. 

Karkat shoved his phone into his pocket, ignoring the buzzing that absolutely meant more inane messages in hideous red text as he stepped up to order his coffee.  


“Um. Can I get a tall, black coffee?” He cringed inwardly. He was trying desperately hard to break the habit of starting every Starbucks order with, “um”, so far to no avail.  


The barista behind the counter, a mustard-blood with twin horns, shouted out the order behind him. “Can I get a name for that?”  


“Yeah, ‘Karkat’,” he reached into his wallet to grab his card. He could see the name being spelled, surprisingly correctly, reflected into the blue and red lenses of the barista’s shades. He also saw him pause.  


“I know you,” he said hesitantly, as if he weren’t sure himself. He passed the cup off to someone behind him and punched something into the cash register before allowing Karkat to stick his card in the chip reader.  


“Sorry, I don’t recognize you,” Karkat grimaced apologetically.  


“No, it’s fine, I’m trying to place it,” the barista squinted up his face, he had the faintest trace of a lisp. “Oh shit, you were in my ethics class last semester, right?”  


Karkat thought back to his ethics class. It had been a large lecture hall and he had skipped a rather embarrassingly large amount of classes. And slept through a handful more. He’d still gotten an A though, if only it hadn’t been so mind-numbingly dry, content-wise. He blamed the fossil of a professor.  


“Maybe? Tuesday/Thursday, Braithwaite?” Karkat offered as he pulled his card out of the reader.  


“Yeah,” the barista started snickering. “The shitfit you threw on the last day was fucking legendary.”  


Karkat vaguely remembered snapping at the professor on the last day. The phrase “sentient lump of soggy flour” may or may not have been used.  


“Fuck, yeah,” Karkat rubbed his neck as he recalled. “Uh, glad you enjoyed.”  


”Uh huh,” the barista handed him his receipt. “Best of luck this semester, bulgewad.”  


Karkat gave an awkward wave as he waited for his name to be called, taking a seat in a stool at the bar. He pulled out the vol. II comic from his bag, there were only a few pages to go and he finally felt like it was getting somewhere.  


_”Elsewhere in paradox space, we examine another planet, forgotten by time. But we will strive to remember. What was this planet's name?_  


That is much better. In fact, as it happens, your guess is precisely correct. What are the odds?? We examine the planet ALTERNIA. Somewhere on this planet, there is a young troll.”  


“Karkat?” Someone behind the counter called. Karkat absentmindedly thanked them, took his drink, and turned the page as he thought. The name Alternia sounded familiar, there was something in the old texts about the origin planet of trolls, but that had never made sense to Karkat. Trolls were just as native to this planet as any other race, human or carapacian or consort. Granted, humans and trolls sort of...took the lead, evolution-wise, but still. As far as he knew, this was the only world his species had ever known.  


Besides, the name Alternia didn’t even make any fucking sense, it sounded like “alternative”. Alternative to what?  


_“This young troll stands in his respiteblock. It just so happens that today, the 12th bilunar perigee of the 6th dark season's equinox, is the day of this young troll's larval awakening, also known as his wriggling day. Though it was six solar sweeps ago he was given life, it is only today he will be given a name!_  


Six Alternian solar sweeps, for convenient reference, is equivalent to thirteen Earth years.  


Earth, also for convenient reference, is a planet that does not yet exist.”  


Karkat paused again, he had always assumed the comic was talking about this planet, Earth C, but now he had to reconsider. Suppose that Alternia really was alternative for some other planet, was this talking about some original Earth? Earth A? Or B?  


A chill ran down Karkat’s spine as he considered the implications. Earth C, was this the third Earth that had ever existed?? What did that even mean?  


_”What will the name of this young troll be?”_  


CONTINUED IN HOMESTUCK VOL. III: HIVEBENT”  


“Fuck,” Karkat muttered. He wondered if there would be a new comic waiting for him at his apartment vis a vis Dave when he got back, or if he would have to obtain the next volume himself.  


He got up and threw away his now empty coffee cup after packing up his things and heading for the door. He gave a briefly awkward wave to the barista he’d apparently had ethics with last semester, then realized he’d never bothered checking his name tag. Whatever, he’d probably see him again, he practically lived on coffee.  


As he stepped out into the brisk air, he squinted in the sunlight and started walking toward his apartment, grateful to be done with his classes for today. When he got there, a female troll was standing in front of the building staring up at it.  


She stood next to a sleek motorcycle that had been parked in the street, and she appraised the building from behind dark shades, hands jammed into the pockets of a leather jacket. All in all, she struck a rather intimidating figure.  


“Do you need buzzed in or something?” Karkat held his hand like a visor to block the sunlight from his eyes. The troll turned to face him, and when she did her mouth split into a wide smile. The display of teeth was far from cheerful or comforting, instead, Karkat felt as though he were staring into the mouth of a shark moments before being bitten in half.  


“Nope!” The troll sang and took a step toward him, appraising him up and down. “Just waiting for you, loser. I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show!”  


Karkat inwardly sighed. Yeah, this was pretty much exactly how his day should have been going. “Right. Okay. Sure.”  


“Didn’t think I’d ever see you again, crabcakes,” The troll strutting around, circling him, really not assuaging Karkat’s sense of being a shark’s dinner. “Guess I’m glad you’re still alive though! Gods know it’ll stop Dave from being a whiny pissbaby!”  


At the mention of Dave’s name, Karkat bit back an expletive. He’d forgotten to respond after getting his coffee, and if this psycho bitch knew him, she was probably vaguely dangerous and he could use whatever security having an equally crazy psychopath at his side would afford.  


“I don’t know you,” Karkat said flatly.  


“Hmmm, I guess not!” She cocked her head to the side. “Guess I just wanted to see for myself how deep this fuckery went! Pretty crazy seeing it in person. Must be killing the coolkid, seeing you like this.”  


“Uh huh,” Karkat sighed. “Well I have homework to do, so if you’ll excuse me…”  


“Nuh uh uh!” The troll practically flash stepped in front of Karkat to block his path. “First, I wanna know where Terezi is.”  


Karkat blinked. “I don’t know anyone named Terezi.”  


“Bullshit,” the troll hissed. “I know you know Kanaya, and if she came through then Terezi has to be here too. You’re not fucking protecting her by not telling me where she is or whatever Knightley bullshit you think you’re pulling after all this time.”  


“Okay, I understand all those words separately, but together? I think you’re batshit crazy. Let me go up to my fucking apartment.” Karkat growled.  


The troll stood there, and Karkat could feel the anger and frustration radiating off of her in waves.  


“If I find out you’re lying to me…” She threatened, taking a step closer.  


“Back the fuck up, Vriska,” a voice called from behind Karkat. He didn’t have to turn around to know it was Dave. An irrational sense of relief washed over him.  


The troll - Vriska, Karkat guessed - shot Dave a sickly sweet shark grin. “Davey, what’s it been? A decade? Two?”  


“Seventeen years, four months, and twenty-one days,” Dave shot her a tight lipped smile. “But who’s counting?”  


“Oh, you Time players,” Vriska waved a hand dismissively. “I was just catching up with my best buddy Karkat here! Isn’t that right, Karkat?”  


“You don’t have to fucking answer her,” Dave stepped protectively toward Karkat, moving just slightly between him and Vriska. “Rose told you?”  


“Lalonde might have mentioned it in passing.”  


Dave exhaled sharply through his nose. “I never understood why the two of you became friends.”  


“Misery loves company,” Vriska snarled. “Unlike you, your hatchmate provides intelligent conversation.”  


“We were all miserable,” Dave shot back. “At least Rose and I were there for each other consistently. Every time you vanished off the face of the fucking planet I had to remind her that for once, she wasn’t the know-it-allest bitch in the room.”  


“You kiss your mother with that mouth?”  


“My “mother” is an ectobiological clone and basically my sister so, no, I don’t kiss her with this mouth,” Dave said. “Rose is my sister and you’ve been adding to her pain for the past two-thousand years, so you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not your biggest fan.”  


Vriska whipped her head to the side and shifted, visibly uncomfortable. “Look, that was never my intention, okay? A girl’s got places to go, people to see, wrigglers to scare.”  


Dave snorted.  


Vriska wet her lips. “Strider. You might not understand the relationship I have with your sister, but we are friends. You don’t have to like it, but I never meant to hurt her. Sorry if all you humans have such delicate feelings!!!”  


“Wow,” Dave drawled. “That was almost an apology. I’m impressed.”  


Karkat couldn’t take it anymore.  
“Shut the colossal, ever-loving, absolute, FUCK up,” he growled. Both entities stopped short and looked at him. He felt the weight of their gaze, and strengthened his resolve. “Okay. I don’t know what the shit you assholes are talking about, and you know what? I really don’t fucking give a fucking fuck. Call me troll Scrooge in which the disgustingly poor carolers want me to donate just a single fuck to save troll Tiny Tim’s pathetic life, and I won’t do it, because I am physically incapable of giving even the tiniest of fucks.”  


Dave and Vriska didn’t move.  


“So,” Karkat continued with a vengeance. “If you two are done hashing out whatever fucked up, shitty, pointless argument, I have literal, actual work I need to get done if I want to graduate this spring!! That might not matter to you fuckfaces, but if I want to have even the slightest hope of a career to, oh I don’t fucking know, sustain my existence and keep me off the streets, you’re both going to step the fuck back, sit the fuck down, shut the fuck up, and let me go up to my goddamn apartment! Is that fucking clear!”  


Karkat exhaled deeply, panting after having spoken so much at once. When it became obvious he was done, Vriska did the scariest thing she’d done since showing up on Karkat’s front step. She started laughing.  


“Well fuck me on the moon and call me the queen of Prospit,” she wiped a cerulean tear from the side of her face. “If I had any doubts as to this being a fucking reincarnation…” She shook her head. “This one is all for you, coolkid.”  


There was a flash of Light, and Vriska, along with her motorcycle, had vanished.  
Karkat whipped around and marched through the front doors of the apartment complex, uncaring if Dave was following behind despite the tugging sensation in his heart that begged him to turn around and check.  


“Karkat, wait,” Dave sprinted to catch up and followed him through the doors.  


Karkat continued toward the elevator and pressed the ‘up’ button five times for good measure, then stood tapping his foot impatiently.  


“Karkat-”  


“I don’t want to hear it,” Karkat snapped.  


“Please?” Dave begged.  


Karkat wished the elevator would show up faster. “You have until it gets here.”  


“I didn’t want you to hear all of that, not yet,” Dave rushed his words so fast, Karkat could barely understand him. “Hell, I didn't even want Vriska talking to you for, I don’t know, months. Years. Ever, maybe.”  


“Well, she did.”  


“I know,” Dave said. “That’s on me I should have… I don’t know. Done something.”  


“From what I’ve seen of her,” Karkat spoke slowly. “I’m not sure there’s much you could have done to stop her, even if you had known.”  


Dave chuckled halfheartedly.  


Karkat checked his watch. “Where the fuck is this elevator?”  


Dave cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Karkat was suddenly aware that the lady behind the front desk wasn’t moving. Neither were the hands on his watch.  


Time had frozen.  


Karkat slowly turned to look at Dave, and with a sudden heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach, he recalled one of the other shrines in the area, in close proximity to that of the Seer’s.  


It wasn’t as large, but it was painted in various shades of red, with a gear symbol hanging above the entryway. The symbol for the god of Time. The aspect of aging, decay, death. Time was not a popular entity, many only gave offerings when something had gone wrong. Begging, praying for more Time.  


Karkat’s breath hitched in his throat. Dave spread his arms apologetically. With his left hand, he snapped his fingers. The sound reverberated through the lobby. The lady behind the desk scratched her nose. The elevator arrived with a ding, and the doors slid open. Karkat ignored them in favor of staring openly at a rather sheepish Dave.  


“What,” Karkat started. “The fuck. Did you just do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmmmmmm comments always appreciated, motivate my depressed ass lmao

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on tumblr at ectoflowermaid!!! Also, if ya like my writing check out my other works!! :)


End file.
